Why Am I Surprised by Grace? It took me long enough, but I finally got it. Have you ever been surprised when you’ve prayed for something important to you, and God does “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20)? I have, not that I’m...
Start Where They Are “Who is Joseph?” The sincere young woman questioned me after I finished a parenting message to a moms’ group. In my talk, I had illustrated a point about sibling rivalry by describing Joseph’s experience with his eleven brothers. Eleven...
How to Love the Unlovable “Love means to love that which is unlovable; or it is no virtue at all.” Christian apologist G. K. Chesterton’s quote touched a nerve in me the moment I heard it. I’ll be the first to admit that watching current events these days provides...
Going for Spiritual Gold Have you been impressed as you watch the winter Olympics athletes? Men and women who are “all in” to achieve excellence in their chosen field. Pushing their bodies to the limits of endurance, and sometimes even past those limits. Being...
The Greatest Command is the Greatest Challenge Quick—what’s the greatest command in the Bible? And what does the greatest command look like in our lives when we obey it? Matthew 22:37 records Jesus’s answer to the question, “Which is the greatest commandment in...
Loving Sandpaper People What’s the most challenging task you’ve ever had to learn? A foreign language? A new assignment at work? A new software upgrade? Your child’s Common Core math homework? Even more challenging than any of those is the subject of...
Forward! It’s the end of January and last year is officially in our rearview mirror . . . or is it? Much like the Ghost of Christmas Past in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, events from 2025 are causing some of us sleepless nights. Unresolved issues and regrets...
Not Just Another Rat in a Rat Race My first commercially published work, Not Just Another Rat, was released as part of a Chicken Soup for the Soul anthology in 2003. The collection of stories, titled Chicken Soup for the Working Woman’s Soul, was a perfect...
Courage and the Christian How important is courage in the life of a Christian? After all, it’s not included in the list of the displays of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Nor is it included in the list of attributes of love in the well-known...
Perseverance in the Face of Obstacles “Size” is relative. The smaller we are, the larger everything else appears. Years ago, during a visit to my childhood church, I gazed in amazement at how tiny the classrooms were. I didn’t remember them being that small...
Why Am I Surprised by Grace? It took me long enough, but I finally got it. Have you ever been surprised when...
Start Where They Are “Who is Joseph?” The sincere young woman questioned me after I finished a parenting...
How to Love the Unlovable “Love means to love that which is unlovable; or it is no virtue at all.” Christian...